Gonna Kick Off My Shoes And Run In Bare Feet...

Where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet.

Man, every time I ride my bike I am greeted with such beauty! I am truly blessed!

This handsome young feller just stood there lookin' at me like a deer in headlights.
;> )

Look at the size of that woodchuck hole!

I think the Osmonds are livin' in there.

Here's a boatload of tent caterpillars. We have a real problem with them in these parts. I almost lost my breakfast when I saw them. They give me the willies.

I'd better put my shoes back on...

Yikes!!

Don't It Make Her Brown Eyes Blue...

I'm still workin' on this lil' dewdrop.

She's a lil' sad for a reason. But y'all are goin' to have to wait to find out why...

I'll keep ya posted.
:> )

The Humble Arts Red, White & Blue Halloween...

Be sure to check out the eBay offerins' from The Humble Arts artists!

Countryfolk Keepsakes

Vintage Primitives

Tattered 'n Torn Prims

Chickadee Primitives

Curds-and-Whey

Prim and Proper Folks

Happy Mother's Day Mama...

You are talented, creative, givin', opinionated, a fantastic cook, strong willed, carin', funny, sarcastic and a "tad" controlling at times.

I am truly blessed to have some of your wonderful qualities and a few not so wonderful ones! :> )

Not only is her name Loretta, she really is a coalminer's daughter. That's her as a baby with her brother and aunt and uncle. She comes from a family of eleven!

Mama had every kind of hairstyle under the sun. (And every color too!)

Check out those 80's (Helmet-Head) hairdos! We could use our heads as batterin' rams.

Happy Mother's Day to my mama, my mama-in-law and to Alma whose been like a grandma to me. I love you all!

He Loves The Nightlife, He's Got To Boogie...

What do ya get when you cross Uncle Sam with Count Dracula?

Meet... Uncle Samula.

He’ll take a bite out of your neck and your wallet.

Here's my Firewood Folks #10 for 2008.

He will be up for auction on eBay this Sunday evenin' May 11th along with other offerins' from The Humble Arts artists. I got a sneak peek at some of the offerins' and ya won't be disappointed! So please make sure y'all check us out!

Ding! Ding! Round Two...

GRACIE VS. HUBS & THE NAIL NIPPERS.

In this corner weighin' in at 185 lbs.... Hubs!

In this corner weighin' in at 6.9 lbs... Gracie!

I'm pretty sure you remember my story a few months ago about takin' Gracie (our Chihuahua) to the vets to get her nails clipped. I swore I'd never do it again and I stuck to my guns. The problem was Gracie needed to get her nails done.

Well, hubs was determined to clip them himself. Heck, he does our other two girls with no problem. So he stopped at the pet store and picked up a tiny muzzle. Neither one of us are fond of usin' muzzles but after my "Adventure in Grace-Land", I knew one had to be used.

She immediately smelled the air when I un-packaged the muzzle. The jig was up and she was on to me! I scrambled to hidin' the evidence by whippin' it behind my back. I told hubs to take her in the other room and sit with her on the couch. I stayed behind to make the proper adjustments, hopin' he could just slip it on her.

As I entered the room she knew somethin' was up but wasn't really sure what. I sat down, placed her on my lap and he gently slipped it over her snout and locked it in place. As he turned to grab the nippers, I saw that crazed look in her eyes. The front paws went up to her face and she pulled the Houdini move again. The muzzle was off! How she does it, I'll never know. So that was a waste of 10 bucks.

Hubs wasn't giving up though. He sat her on his lap, grabbed a paw and gave it the old college try. She squirmed and snapped at him. I thought to myself, "Welcome to the party, pal! This is nothin', she's just gettin' warmed up!"

He decided to play it safe and put on his heavy flannel jacket and a pair of leather ridin' gloves. (At least his chances of gettin' carved up like a Butterball would be slim to none) Again, he placed her on his lap. Then the fun began.

I compare it to the old cartoons when a cat and dog went at it in a fight. Only a cloud of smoke and the occasional dog or cat paw comin' out of the top of the cloud. Needless to say she was WILD! She was growlin', clawin', bitin', snarlin' and squirmin'. He was holdin', pressin', leanin' and I think had her in a Full Nelson at one point. The whole time he's laughin' in disbelief.

Finally, after about 25 minutes she just gave up. I couldn't believe my eyes! She sat there, completely docile as he clipped her back nails. When all was said and done, hubs lost about 15 pounds from sweatin' and Gracie finally had nicely manicured lil' tootsies. Man, she is gonna sleep good tonight!

I look forward to round three in a few months. Ding! Ding! Ding!

They Have Us By The...

"you know whats."

But if I had one wish, I would wish our nation could go 24 hours without usin' any means of transportation. Would it make a difference? One could only hope. It just might show the oil companies we don't live our lives (completely) around oil.

But it could never happen... Because we do. And they know this.

Cha-ching.

Ticklin' The Ivories...

Today, I decided to tackle a major cleanin' upstairs in our ol' farmhouse.

As I was goin' through boxes and boxes of papers, I came across my very first piano lesson book. Tucked inside were a few of my piano recital programs.

I took lessons for about 3 years back when I was a young'un. My teacher, Miss Waller had to be 110 years old back then. She could be as mean as a hornet which was probably why she was never a "Mrs."

She was always slappin' my hands tellin' me to "Keep your wrists up!" and she would literally cringe if I hit the wrong key. So when I played, most of the time she looked like she was havin' a fit.
Since I never remembered which pedals to use; I would get "happy feet" (like Steve Martin) and use them all. Man, I drove the poor woman crazy. My Tuesday afternoon hour long piano lesson seemed like an eternity. (For the both of us I'm sure)

I think mama had visions of me playin' Chopin's "Minute Waltz" at Carnegie Hall. But I was thinkin' more along the lines of "Chopsticks" at the local B.P.O.E. (Neither one happened)

Every week Miss Waller would ask me if I practiced my lesson and every week my reaction was the same...

I may have not been able to play the Minute Waltz; but by the looks of that gold star in my piano book, I could play "Vacation Time" like nobody's business.
:> )

The Run Of Her Life...

turned into the run of her death.

I've never been a fan of horse racin' and today confirms it. I decided to watch The Kentucky Derby. All those folks dressed to the nines and the women in those big fancy hats. I guess its all about prestige. Personally, I'm not impressed by that.

Eight Belles was the lone philly to run. She ran her heart out too. But after comin' in second, she collapsed on the track because of two compound fractures to her front ankles. As she lay there on the track, they had to euthanize her. That's it, she's gone. Eight Belles is no longer. I literally sat there with my mouth open in shock.

If I had the opportunity to speak to the owner of this horse, I would ask him one question. "If you knew in advance the outcome of today's race, would you have still let her run?" Sadly, I believe his answer would be yes because the payout would have been worth it.
:> (

The Beauty Around Us...

"God has sown his name on the heavens in glittering stars; but on earth He planteth His name by tender flowers."
~Jean Paul Richter

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
~Indian Proverb

"Each flower is a soul opening out to nature."
~Gerald De Nerval

"Where flowers bloom so does hope."
~Lady Bird Johnson

"Earth laughs in flowers."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I realized that if I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes."
~Charles Lindbergh

:> )

Its May 1st...

And that means fantastic new offerins' on The Humble Arts.

So buzz on over and check out Sula the Sunflower and Bartholomew the Bumble Bee along with all the other unique offerins' from a humble group of talented artists!

It's A Very Special Day For Us...

+

= A marriage made in Heaven!
Make that about 99.9% of the time. ;> )

Happy Anniversary Darlin'! I love you!!

It's also my daddy's birthday. Since he was no longer with us, we wanted to honor his memory by gettin' married on his birthday. We had the ceremony right on our beautiful property. Seein' it was my second time around, we wanted nothin' fancy, just family and a few close friends.

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The sun was shinin', the birds were singin' and immediately after we said our vows to each other; a gust of wind blew through almost takin' my hat off.

I looked up and smiled... Daddy gave his approval.
:> )

Happy Birthday "Mr. Peanut"...

Busy As A Beaver...

I am so drawn to this area where some beavers live. I find myself visitin' it everyday on my daily bike ride.

They are such hard lil' workers!

I guess there's no need for a dental plan...

:> )

I Went For A Bike Ride Today...

As I peddled down the path I couldn't help but appreciate and be thankful for the beauty God has graced us with. We are truly blessed.

He gives a playground for the critters...

He has a sense of humor...

He likes to keep us on our toes...

He surprises us with unexpected beauty...

And this is how some show their appreciation and gratitude.

Sigh...